EUROPE
LAND
23 Nov 05. LAW 80: Final Days. The Defence Logistics Organisation announced that tenders had been issued to 10 companies for the disposal of LAW 80 rockets. An earlier (15 Dec 04) notification indicated that 1,000 tonnes of ‘Rocket System 94mm HEAT (LAW 80)’ were for disposal. Comment: Apart from four UK companies, others invited to tender are from: the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. LAW 80 (Light Anti-tank Weapon for the 80s) entered British Army service in 1988, as a replacement for the Swedish Carl Gustav and US M72 light anti-tank weapons. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 05/45, 28 Nov 05)
SEA
28 Nov 05. Raytheon Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon Company, has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $12m (€10m) by the Royal
Netherlands Navy and the Coast Guard of the Netherlands Antilles & Aruba
(CGNA&A) to build an integrated coastal surveillance radar network on the
islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, including long-term maintenance and
training.
23 Nov 05. Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control (MASC) Programme: Study Needed. The Defence Procurement Agency is seeking ‘expressions of interest’ from companies willing to conduct a MASC study. “A manned rotary-wing solution” is envisaged, with a surveillance radar as the primary sensor. MASC is required as a command and control aircraft, to operate from the proposed two new aircraft carriers (CVF) and as a Sea King Mk 7 replacement. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 05/45, 28 Nov 05)
AIR
30 Nov 05. Airbus has selected Smiths Aerospace to supply the video distribution and processing (ViDP) system on the A400M aircraft generating more than $55m through the year 2023. The main portion of the system will be basic equipment on the launch base of 180 aircraft, plus additional export, forecasted to be built throughout the lifetime of the program. The A400M aircraft will complete initial certification and enter service in 2009.
30 Nov 05. Major mission system enhancements are being installed on the first of 17 NATO AWACS aircraft as part of the $1.32bn Mid-Term Modernization program. EADS, as subcontractor to Boeing, is performing the work in Manching, Germany. It’s expected to be completed in Nov. 2006 with the entire fleet scheduled to be upgraded in 2008. Boeing also will upgrade the two NATO AWACS mission simulators into the mid-term configuration.
30 November 2005. The latest EADS technology will be used to improve airspace control over Germany. As the company announced on Wednesday, the EADS Defence Electronics Business Unit has been commissioned by the Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB – Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung) in Koblenz to equip six long-range airspace surveillance radar systems of the German Air Force with the most modern identification devices. With the so-called IFF interrogator systems (IFF = Identification Friend or Foe), aircraft are quickly and reliably identified by the exchange of coded signals.
22 Nov 05. On Tuesday 22 November at the Frederikkazerne barracks in The Hague, a contract was signed for the purchase of two C-130H aircraft. This will increase the Hercules fleet by a third and a fourth aircraft. Since the second half of 2004, the Ministry of Defence had been searching for ways to increase the Hercules fleet. Initially, only one aircraft was available, and at the end of 2004 a contract was signed to purchase it from the British Ministry of Defence. However, delays in the delivery of this aircraft led to the cancellation of this purchase. State Secretary Cees van der Knaap in September decided to purchase two refurbished aircraft from the United States. These aircraft will not entirely replace four Fokker 60s, but will be used for tactical air transport and are capable of operating from unprepared airstrips. Derco Aerospace will modernize two EC-103Q aircraft formerly operated by the US Nav